Silent Night
by ultrafreakyfangirl
Summary: Natalie and Joe are determined to give Vanessa a great Christmas. T for minor smut scene.


**_Author's Note: I finally found the energy to write! Yay! This one goes out to all the Joe/Natalie shippers out there! (Especially distantmuse). Merry Almost Christmas! Hope you guys like it! _**

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_December 20__th__, 2019 _

Natalie didn't really know what to do here. She was at a loss. She wanted to do something for this little girl, to make her Christmas special, where special didn't mean Chinese takeout and a _Die Hard_ marathon, which is what she and Joe had stapled as tradition – _their_ tradition – as of the year before. Except, this year, they had Vanessa.

While Natalie was certain that she'd never had any sort of magical Christmases growing up in her six years, Vanessa was still a kid, a kid who deserved to have her disbelief suspended when it came to Santa Clause and his elves and the workshop and presents and chimneys and all of it.

So, she and Joe were determined to make Vanessa's first Christmas with them as her foster parents just that. Absolutely magical. The question was, _how_ were they going to do that?

Natalie turned to the little girl; her curls pinned back with a butterfly barrette. She wore a cheesy smile on her lips. As if she was challenging Natalie to say something to entice her into the magic of the season, because nobody else in her life really had before.

All of the sudden, it felt like a lot of pressure. Too much pressure.

"So, did you want to go drive around and look at all of the Christmas lights? Litchfield actually has a – "

Joe put a steadying hand on her shoulder, and she breathed out, not realizing that she had been holding her breath until this moment. He shook his head at her, which almost counteracted the soft touch, but she said nothing.

"Jesus, Nat. We are not taking a little girl to look at Christmas lights at a women's prison. Do you not hear how screwed up that sounds?"

Instead of looking at Joe, like she thought Vanessa would have been, the little girl was staring straight at her, her gaze unwavering, and then, there it was, a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth. Hm. Vanessa had dimples. She hadn't noticed that before. They were kind of cute.

"I'm used to screwed up."

Vanessa shrugged, and Natalie nearly cried right there, and resisted the urge to run her fingers through her hair. She cleared her throat instead, poised to say something else, but then Joe beat her to it.

"How about the three of us go pick out a tree, hm? We can get some hot chocolate, roam around the garden center of _Home Depot_ until we find the perfect one?"

"Sounds great to me!" Natalie said, relieved that Joe had thought of something else, shifting Vanessa's focus away from _screwed up_ and onto _normal._ "Vanessa? What about you?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Why not? I like hot chocolate. Can I have extra marshmallows?"

Joe laughed. "Sure."

And he laughed again when halfway there, from the backseat of the car, she added, seemingly out of nowhere, "oh! And a candy cane too?"

An hour later, the tree the three of them had finally agreed on – after Joe had nixed the first three, claiming they were 'too tall' and Natalie the next two, saying they were 'too dry and I am not going to be responsible for cleaning up pine needles every five minutes' and, surprising the both of them, Vanessa had vetoed the next one, voicing her opinion of 'not smelly enough' – was in the back of Joe's truck.

Joe had suggested getting burgers at the adjoining _Harveys_ as reward, and Vanessa had echoed the sentiment with 'Sounds great, I'm starving!' and so that's how Natalie was squished between the both of them in a corner booth, picking at a droopy, green-_ish_ salad.

Vanessa was smiling ear-to-ear, ketchup dripping off of her chin, and that was when Natalie made the decision that she would eat at _Harveys_ for the rest of her life, if only to see that smile light up that beautiful girl's face again tomorrow, and the day after that, and every other one following it.

Natalie was just making her way from the kitchen with three glasses of egg nog in her hands, humming quietly to _Silver Bells_ that emanated from the living room when she felt a pair of hands twist around her waist.

A warm mouth soon followed against her neck, and then a voice. Deep. Throaty. "Domestic housewife suits you, babe. You look so hot right now, _holy shit_."

She laughed softly, leaning her head back a little bit more, almost to encourage his ministrations. He sighed against her skin. "I could just…"

He thrusted his hips forward and she felt him against her ass. "…fuck you right here."

She bit her lip to stifle a moan but didn't do much else in the way of pushing him off of her. She was enjoying the feeling a little too much.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a little voice exclaiming 'ooh! Egg nog!' and Natalie opened her eyes to come face-to-face with Vanessa smiling up at her and waiting patiently to be given her glass. She nudged Joe in the ribs, and he backed off and grinned at Vanessa.

"You like this stuff, eh?" he asked her, and she nodded. "It was the only thing that made it really feel like Christmas over the years."

Without saying anything else, Natalie handed her a glass and Joe his too, and watched as Vanessa slurped at it hungrily, not unlike any other child would. It made her happy to see.

The three of them continued to decorate the tree for another half an hour or so, and in this time, Natalie learned two things about their little girl. One, her favorite Christmas carol was _Silent Night_ – which given the song she'd chosen to sing upon their first meeting, surprised her; and two, that she had a lovely, sweet, singing voice. It sounded like a gift.

"Where did you learn to sing like that?" Joe had asked her, and the expression that came over her face suddenly was solemn, and she knew that he'd probably regretted asking.

"My mom. She was such a good singer. Is. She _is _such a good singer. She used to sing me lullabies, but I don't know if she sings anymore…for anyone else."

Natalie found it hard to picture some woman who hit her children on a regular basis and let men do unspeakable things to them as the same woman who would sing her children to sleep, but of course it was not her place to say anything. Not to Vanessa. To Joe later, maybe.

A moment passed and everyone was quiet, until Joe suggested that they watch a movie, and Natalie was quick to agree. They settled on _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ – one that, unsurprisingly, Vanessa hadn't yet seen, and shared between them a bowl of popcorn with M&M's.

After that, it was time for bed, with Vanessa almost asleep on Natalie's shoulder, and Joe already snoring up a storm on Vanessa's other side. Natalie gently shook Vanessa awake, not having the strength to carry her up the stairs to her room.

Once teeth were brushed and Vanessa was snuggled under the covers, Natalie bent down and hovered for a minute. She wasn't sure if Vanessa was ready for any type of physical affection past the occasional hug.

"Natalie?" Vanessa murmured softly, her eyes fluttering closed. "Go ahead. I don't mind."

Natalie somehow got over her shock of the little girl reading her mind – although, really, should she have been that surprised, children were observant little buggers, and moved closer to her, leaving a ghost of a kiss on her sweet, pale, forehead.

"Goodnight, sweet pea," Natalie whispered into the dark, not expecting a response.

Although, halfway out of the room, she got one. It was soft, quiet, a struggle against impending sleep.

"Goodnight, Natalie. Thank you for making this the best Christmas ever. Tell Joe for me, too, okay?"

"I will, sweetheart. Have a good sleep."

"Mhm…"

Natalie went down the stairs, trying her hardest not to make them squeak, and all the while, she thought about how she and Joe – his snores getting louder the closer to the living room she got, were going to make this Christmas the best one that _all three of them _have ever had.

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**_Author's Note: Well? What did you think? Leave a review! It's finally the first official day of winter break – probably explains my sudden urge to write something. These past few months have gone by in such a blur but on that note wow am I ready for break! As I was writing this, obviously Vanessa – as Natalie and Joe's adoptive daughter, kept coming up but all I could think about was one of my kids whose name is also Vanessa – I miss them already (okay, really only some of them – teachers lie, we definetly have favorites, sorry you guys!) but by the time I have to go back to work, the feeling will probably have worn off, ironically :P Anyways, totally off topic, but if you liked this cute, Christmassy one shot – please tell me! 2 more days! Eep! _**


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